Mark Kennedy raised $1.1 million through Aug. 21, but listed just $562,359 in cash as of that date. He's had a few TV ads, mostly responding to Roberts.
View a sample ad.

ANOKA, Minn. (AP) - After knocking off Rep. David Minge by 155
votes two years ago, Republican Mark Kennedy had every reason to
believe landing his second term in Congress would be easier.

That was before redistricting put his house in new territory
that runs north, instead of south, of the Twin Cities. And before a
wealthy Democratic attorney came forward to challenge him.

Now, Kennedy's battle against Stillwater attorney Janet Robert
has turned as bitter and nasty as any other this campaign season.

"The only thing she's said that's truthful about me was my
name," Kennedy said.

Robert, in turn, cites "the lies" of the campaign.

The tone of the campaign is turning some voters' stomachs.

"There is
still ammunition for Kennedy to go out and define her as someone
who has been ethically challenged."

- Amy Walter, Cook Political Report

"I'm tuning them out," said Doug Sather, 64, a retired social
studies teacher. "Let's get the damn thing over with."

Robert remains the underdog but has offset her political
inexperience, and the district's Republican leaning, by turning to
her family fortune. In August, she loaned her campaign $800,000 to
launch an early television ad buy. With her latest ad buy on
Friday, Roberts' campaign has spent more than $1.5 million for TV
spots.

Kennedy raised $1.1 million through Aug. 21, but listed just
$562,359 in cash as of that date.

All the money being poured into the campaign doesn't impress
Sather, who's among the undecided in this new 6th District, which
runs from Washington County east of the Twin Cities, northwest
through Anoka and St. Cloud.

With her latest ad buy, Roberts' campaign has spent more than $1.5 million for TV
spots. View a sample ad.

"There's got to be good people in there somewhere," he said.
"Sometimes, they're a little hard to find."

Kennedy and Robert actually stand together on many issues. They
both oppose abortion and support gun rights and funding for a
commuter rail line running from St. Cloud to Minneapolis. They also
both would push for the federal government to pick up its full
share of special education funding.

One area where they differ is Social Security.

Kennedy has supported allowing young workers to invest part of
their payroll tax in personal retirement accounts. He says it may
help keep Social Security solvent for years to come; funding is
projected to collapse in 2041 after baby boomers consume much of
the fund.

Robert opposes allowing workers to invest any portion of their
payroll taxes in personal accounts that could be invested in stocks
or bonds. She said Social Security could be kept solvent by having
the government repay money borrowed from the trust fund at a rate
of 6 percent over inflation rather than at the current rate of 4.4
percent over inflation.

Both Robert and Kennedy come from corporate backgrounds and have
made business ethics core to their campaigns.

Robert, a former Oak Park Heights city councilwoman, sits on the
board of directors of her family's St. Louis-based private company,
Siegel-Robert Inc. Kennedy, a freshman congressman, worked as chief
financial officer for Department 56, as CEO for Shopko Stores and
as an accountant for Arthur Andersen.

The Robert campaign says Kennedy has been weak on proposals that
would strengthen laws against corporate wrongdoing. She also
alleged in a recent television ad that Kennedy's action as CFO of
Department 56 cost shareholders money.

Kennedy's name was removed from the shareholder lawsuit that a
judge later dismissed as "groundless."

Amy Walter, who tracks House races for the Cook Political
Report, said Robert's hardball approach shows she means business.

"Her problem, of course, is that she has some of her own
baggage on the issue," Walter said. "The bottom line is there is
still ammunition for Kennedy to go out and define her as someone
who has been ethically challenged."

And he has. In his first television ad, Kennedy said Robert
cheated long-time employees of her family's company out of $22
million.

Robert was on the board of directors of her family's company,
when company officials forced minority shareholders to sell their
shares to the Robert family to reduce corporate taxes. They were
offered $20 a share, and they sued, saying the price was too low.

A U.S. District Court judge said the shareholders should be paid
about $60 per share and a federal appeals court upheld the
decision.

The candidates will have a chance to defend their pasts and talk
issues when they meet in their first debates this month.

Political analysts say Robert has an uphill battle.

"The amount of money she is willing to spend makes it worth
watching, but I don't see it as turning over," Walter said.